[elfary]

A non european iPhone 5s is a heck of an iem driver. Uber clear, open and balanced as it should be.

 

[wigwam8]

Anyone previously used a Samsung Note 2, Ipad Air, Ipod Touch 1g, Ipod 5g or 5.5g? That's the kind of sound I like, nice and warm Never tried the Iphone 4s or 5s.

If I get the 6 or 6+ and the lightning cable with the integrated Wolfson chip, can I achieve a similar sound? I would buy a headphone amp if necessary. Will be getting Vmoda M100s or Lp's soon (undecided).

If an amp is recommended, can I get away with something like the E18 for $150usd?

 

[Sanlitun]

Anyone previously used a Samsung Note 2, Ipad Air, Ipod Touch 1g, Ipod 5g or 5.5g? That's the kind of sound I like, nice and warm Never tried the Iphone 4s or 5s.

If I get the 6 or 6+ and the lightning cable with the integrated Wolfson chip, can I achieve a similar sound? I would buy a headphone amp if necessary. Will be getting Vmoda M100s or Lp's soon (undecided).

If an amp is recommended, can I get away with something like the E18 for $150usd?

 
I have a few of those Wolfson players, The Note 2, Touch 1, U2 4th Gen Ipod etc. Overall I would say the 6+ is superior than those devices and you can easily emulate the closer Wolfson sound using Can Opener etc.
 
I've set Can Opener to use the "Lifelike" crossfeed and it gives the same sort of centered smooth sound. 
 
Anyways you can return the IPhone within 14 days if it doesn't work out for you so it's possible to get a very good demo of the sound.

 

[wigwam8]

Thx Sanlitun.  Did you have to use the Lightning cable + amp, or are you using the Iphone 6 straight up?  Sounds like good news

 

[ubs28]

A non european iPhone 5s is a heck of an iem driver. Uber clear, open and balanced as it should be.

I have the european version. Are non european versions better sounding?

 

[indieman]

EU version has a volume cap

 

[Sanlitun]

  Thx Sanlitun.  Did you have to use the Lightning cable + amp, or are you using the Iphone 6 straight up?  Sounds like good news

 
Just straight up into an vintage pair of Sony MDR-E888 
 
I actually have my Touch 1 here at work and did a little side by side. After a listen I can say its easy to forget how good these older IPods sound, and the great way the Wolfson chips can handle treble. No fatigue at all.
 
The other side of that is that the Wolfson sounds a little compressed and unresolved at times. I still prefer the 6+, and I can make the 6+ sound like the Wolfson and also have the option of the more contemporary IPhone sound.

 

[Dixter]

Anyone previously used a Samsung Note 2, Ipad Air, Ipod Touch 1g, Ipod 5g or 5.5g? That's the kind of sound I like, nice and warm Never tried the Iphone 4s or 5s.

If I get the 6 or 6+ and the lightning cable with the integrated Wolfson chip, can I achieve a similar sound? I would buy a headphone amp if necessary. Will be getting Vmoda M100s or Lp's soon (undecided).

If an amp is recommended, can I get away with something like the E18 for $150usd?

wigwam8...   just to clarify the lightning cable with the integrated Wolfson chip...    that cable/connector came out when Apple switched from the 30 pin connector to the lightning connector...
The iphone with the new lightning connector did not have a DAC output like the iphone prior ( LOD connection)  and so Apple kinda stranded us as most of us just used a LOD and added on a headphone amp...      So where I'm going with this is.. if you decide to use a integrated Wolfson cable/connector then you will also need to add the original LOD cable and that cable has to go to a headphone amp...    so you can't use the cable without an amp...     the cable managment could be an issue for the iphone like that...  not a good portable solution in other words...    if your after
the Wolfson sound signature from that cable I would suggest an O2 amp could be a good match up...  as that amp will pass the SQ of the Wolfson DAC without issue...   just a thought...

 

[krismusic]

Quote:
Originally Posted by moedawg140 View Post
I bought SpotEQ, but have not used it. It accesses Spotify, but saves its own caches of offline data. Also, it only accesses playlists and search, none of your albums. I got it intending to use it for eq and spotify app for no eq.

It is well worth persevering with SpotEQ. I use it exclusively now. For a start it sorts playlists alphabetically. The EQ has more frequencies than Spotify and EQ can be toggled easily from the now playing screen.

 

[ByMinotti]

Has anyone seen this Amp audio case? I just pre-ordered one for my iPhone 6 Plus. I think this will make my Shure SE535 LTD-J sound better when connected to my iPhone. http://www.ampaudio.com/r/tSJLNY4m

 

[Lieon]

Has anyone seen this Amp audio case? I just pre-ordered one for my iPhone 6 Plus. I think this will make my Shure SE535 LTD-J sound better when connected to my iPhone. http://www.ampaudio.com/r/tSJLNY4m

Does it fit the iPhone 6 Plus? I thought it was made for the iPhone 5 in mind.

*my bad, just saw iphone 6 plus under options.

 

[tonifyd]

Nice find, Exiga2010. I'll purchase it just to check it out and see if it is indeed sonically superior to the Neutron. I will be testing with my SE846 and other various headphones/IEMs as well and will report my findings as well. At least from the screenshots, it already looks better than most music player apps, so that's a plus. Hopefully looks will not be deceiving. :bigsmile_face:

EDIT: Unfortunately, looks are deceiving.

Neutron Media Player and CanOpener - Comparison

The findings below were tested on my iPhone 6, 128GB.

After paying for the CanOpener app ($2.99), spending for the IAP to increase the Sample Rate Converter from "Standard" to "HQ" ($4.99), spending a couple of hours changing every single setting, from setting up my specific headphone sensitivity and impedance for headphone output, crossfeed (plus "amount" and "angle") to EQ, "Pencil EQ", preset settings as well as the individual number/dB settings for each and every setting, I came to the unfortunate conclusion that the CanOpener app does in fact not sound as good as the Neutron Media Player. This is regardless of whether one app has EQ, surround settings and the other app doesn't and vice-versa. No matter what, I could not make the CanOpener app sound better with all of the settings it has compared to even the Neutron player without EQ enabled. I believe the reason is because the inherent differences in audio quality goes past upper-level settings that could be set and more about the lower-level driver that the Neutron application utilizes that makes the auditory presentation cleaner, clearer, more analytical and more coherent than the CanOpener app or any other application that I have used. The 64-Bit processing that Neutron can utilize (is not an IAP like CanOpener's "HQ" setting) more than likely helps eek out that extra bit regarding audio quality as well.

Here are the Neutron settings regarding audio quality that I used for the comparison; I also use these as my personal listening settings:

Settings >

1. DSP Effect > Crossfeed

2. 64-Bit Processing > Enable

3. Dither > Enable

4. Resampling > Audiophile

5. Automatic Gain Protection > Enable

If anything is not mentioned = default/I didn't touch.

Side note - Using EQ is very powerful with Neutron as a little bit goes a long way, as using too much will cause clipping and other "fun" audio-distorting effects.

Conclusion

CanOpener is an app that is very easy to use for the most part (the "Pencil EQ" isn't the most user-friendly) and you have better visual representation of each setting as opposed to Neutron's number/slider system. However, when it comes to pure sound quality, the Neutron is ahead of the CanOpener and every other application that I have used. That being said, if you do not mind a hit in sound quality compared to the Neutron for easier/simpler navigation, you may want to give the CanOpener application a try. If you want the utmost in sound quality, and you do not mind the Neutron's interface - as you can also refer to my Neutron settings, you'll be in great hands, or in this case, ears. Happy listening!

Another app i think you should definitely try out is EQ 10. Neutron is lacking an option that i adore from EQ10 called sterio width. It pretty much adjusts the wideness of the soundstage.

Did you leave the EQ settings untouched on Neutron?

Also could you please clarify what "SCS" is and which filter you are using with your SE846s? Are you also using a custom cable or tips?

 

[moedawg140]

Another app i think you should definitely try out is EQ 10. Neutron is lacking an option that i adore from EQ10 called sterio width. It pretty much adjusts the wideness of the soundstage.

Did you leave the EQ settings untouched on Neutron?

Also could you please clarify what "SCS" is and which filter you are using with your SE846s? Are you also using a custom cable or tips?

 
Thank you for the suggestion regarding EQ 10.  I am aware it only costs $.99, but based on the amount and content of less-than-favorable reviews (an overall 2 stars [mostly 1 stars] out of thirty-two reviews), I do not want to spend more money on another app that winds up possibly being less than favorable than Neutron regarding overall sound quality.  Even if every single review came from a plant or plants (false posters), I would like to hear from someone who likes Neutron and tries out the music player from EQ 10 - as I do not want to be the one to report on both first. 
 
As for my Neutron settings, I usually do not use Neutron's EQ, and I leave EQ off from every device/app when comparing music apps, IEMs/headphones, etcetera.
 
Regarding SCS, please check out my Sensaphonics Custom Sleeves review below.  It explains what filter(s) as well as the custom cable I use for my Shure SE846.  The custom tips you were inquiring about are the Sensaphonics Custom Sleeves.

 

[wigwam8]

Dixter, thanks for the clarification.  Will consider the O2 as well.

 

[elfary]

I think it was back in 2008 last time i used a software eq. Feeling weird reading all this plethora of dsps you put the music through.